F amily and friends of Hilma, both those who are here and those who are unable to be here, grace to you and peace form God our Father and from the Lord Je- sus Christ. Our text for today is from the Gospel Lesson just read from Psalm 121 verse 8, The Lord will keep, your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Hilma Irene Maddern nee Waldros was born on October 7, 1922 and was baptized on No- vember 7 of that same year. She was married at the tender age of sixteen on November 24, 1938 to her dear husband, Clayton. They are blessed with four children. Hilma was confirmed in the at Zion Lutheran church in what is now Ironwood, Wisconsin on March 28, 1937. She died in Christ on March 17 in the year of our Lord 2011, where she awaits the resurrection of all flesh. Blessed are the dead who die in this Lord from this time forth and even forevermore. It is nearly impossible to evaluate the life of someone eighty eight years old, who was married at sixteen, and lived to see sixty eight years of married life. They raised four children, one of whom, Marlayne, was her special child who suffered from Down’s Syndrome until her un- timely death in 2006, just a few short weeks after her husband, Clayton, died in Christ as well. How would one describe Hilma? I suppose there are lots of words we could use. Words like charismatic or dedicated. Cheerful or faithful. I think I would use the word motherly. I’m sure each of you have your own descriptions. It is also important to recog- nize that her life was not all roses and knitting. Taking care of her family was work, as any family knows. She could get discour- aged and frustrated, even angry sometimes. Hilma was certainly a sinner, as are we all. So what made things make sense for her? How did she sur- vive the good times and bad, the lifetime of experiences that make up her story? The answer lies in her Baptism. Eighty Eight years ago she was baptized into Christ. When that happened, everything changed for Hilma. She was adopted into another family, a family far more wondrous than anything here on earth. We prayed in Psalm 121 about a journey. Originally the Psalm was a traveling song. It was a song that the children of Israel would sing when they were to begin a journey. The song tells the story of how the first thing the Israelites would do is lift up their eyes and see that the begin- ning and end of the journey was in God. God is the one who would not leave her alone on these many travels. He does not sleep. He is her keeper. He is the one who kept her safe in so many trials (Continued on page 5) Kept in Christ: Sermon for Hilma Maddern By Pastor Todd A. Peperkorn, STM Messiah’s Messenger Messiah Lutheran Church 2026 22nd Avenue—Kenosha, Wisconsin Church (262)551-8182 Parsonage (262)551-9081) Christ Lutheran Academy (262)697-6044 Little Lambs Learning Center (262)551-8167 www.messiahkenosha.org Email: [email protected]Volume 50, Number 4 April 2011
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Transcript
F amily and friends of
Hilma, both those who
are here and those who
are unable to be here,
grace to you and peace form God
our Father and from the Lord Je-
sus Christ. Our text for today is
from the Gospel Lesson just read
from Psalm 121 verse 8, The Lord
will keep, your going out and
your coming in from this time
forth and forevermore.
Hilma Irene Maddern nee
Waldros was born on October 7,
1922 and was baptized on No-
vember 7 of that same year. She
was married at the tender age of
sixteen on November 24, 1938 to
her dear husband, Clayton. They
are blessed with four children.
Hilma was confirmed in the at
Zion Lutheran church in what is
now Ironwood, Wisconsin on
March 28, 1937. She died in
Christ on March 17 in the year of
our Lord 2011, where she awaits
the resurrection of all flesh.
Blessed are the dead who die in
this Lord from this time forth
and even forevermore.
It is nearly impossible to
evaluate the life of someone
eighty eight years old, who was
married at sixteen, and lived to
see sixty eight years of married
life. They raised four children,
one of whom, Marlayne, was her
special child who suffered from
Down’s Syndrome until her un-
timely death in 2006, just a few
short weeks after her husband,
Clayton, died in Christ as well.
How would one describe
Hilma? I suppose there are lots
of words we could use. Words
like charismatic or dedicated.
Cheerful or faithful. I think I
would use the word motherly.
I’m sure each of you have your
own descriptions.
It is also important to recog-
nize that her life was not all roses
and knitting. Taking care of her
family was work, as any family
knows. She could get discour-
aged and frustrated, even angry
sometimes. Hilma was certainly
a sinner, as are we all.
So what made things make
sense for her? How did she sur-
vive the good times and bad, the
lifetime of experiences that make
up her story? The answer lies in
her Baptism. Eighty Eight years
ago she was baptized into Christ.
When that happened, everything
changed for Hilma. She was
adopted into another family, a
family far more wondrous than
anything here on earth.
We prayed in Psalm 121 about
a journey. Originally the Psalm
was a traveling song. It was a
song that the children of Israel
would sing when they were to
begin a journey. The song tells
the story of how the first thing
the Israelites would do is lift up
their eyes and see that the begin-
ning and end of the journey was
in God.
God is the one who would not
leave her alone on these many
travels. He does not sleep. He is
her keeper. He is the one who
kept her safe in so many trials
(Continued on page 5)
Kept in Christ: Sermon for Hilma Maddern
By Pastor Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah’s Messenger Messiah Lutheran Church
2026 22nd Avenue—Kenosha, Wisconsin
Church (262)551-8182 Parsonage (262)551-9081)
Christ Lutheran Academy (262)697-6044 Little Lambs Learning Center (262)551-8167